Harrison Township man describes raccoon attack

From now on, Alvin Wurfel will be a little more aware of his surroundings, even when he’s in his own driveway.

The Harrison Township resident told authorities he was recently chased and menaced without provocation by a raccoon that emerged from beneath a bush near the garage of his home on Pineridge Street.

“If it attacked me like this, it could easily attack a kid waiting for a school bus,” said Wurfel, 57. “I didn’t provoke it or anything.”

About 8:30 a.m. Thursday, Wurfel returned home with a bicycle that had been discarded by a homeowner. As he began to unload the bicycle from the trunk of his car, Wurfel looked up in time to see a raccoon charge him.

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“I dropped the bike and took off running,” he said.

Wurfel said the animal exhibited strange behavior. The raccoon chased him around his car, and when Wurfel climbed into the bed of his pickup parked nearby, the animal still wasn’t deterred.

“The thing tried to climb up the tire and get into the pickup,” he said.

Fearful the animal might gain access to the enclosed truck bed, Wurfel again fled, this time to a neighbor’s house. The raccoon followed. Wurfel threw several bricks at the raccoon, and estimated at least three hit the animal before it backed off.

Wurfel took advantage of the lull in the attack to call police. A Macomb County animal control officer arrived and captured the raccoon. The animal was later euthanized.

Wurfel said he lived on a farm for several years as a youth, but never saw a raccoon behave like this one. He said he was afraid the animal was rabid.

“I grew up on a farm and I’ve never encountered anything like this,” he said.

Jeff Randazzo, chief animal control officer for Macomb County, said the raccoon’s behavior as described by Wurfel is unusual, but not unheard of. Female raccoons, in particular, are territorial, when nursing their young, Randazzo said.

“They’re very good mothers,” he said.

The animal Wurfel encountered was male. Because it didn’t bite anybody, the raccoon was not tested for rabies before it was euthanized, Randazzo said. Typically, raccoons found in Macomb County are not rabid, he said.

While his office hasn’t received an inordinate amount of complaints about raccoons, that could change in the coming weeks, Randazzo said. As hibernating animals, raccoons will begin to seek out winter habitats as fall moves toward winter. Beneath decks and porches and other locations near homes are attractive to the animals.

Homeowners can deter raccoons by keeping their yards clean of debris and trash can lids tightly secured.

“The best thing is not to draw wildlife in the first place,” Randazzo said.

Persons who do encounter raccoons, especially if they’re bitten by the animals, should immediately contact animal control officers in their home communities.